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Want to find out a bit more about Adventure Life? Check out some of these great publications that have written articles about our tours. Browse through these brief summaries or click on the links below to read the full articles!

Mens Journal

Mens Journal

An Easy Icebraker

Published: July 1, 2007
By: Mens Journal


The Northwest Passage links the Atlantic and Pacific and provides a shipping route between Europe and Asia.

The deadly, ice-packed Northwest Passage remained unconquered until Roald Amundsen braved the trip in 1906. Today satellite images suggest that the ice is retreating so rapidly that the passage could be a viable shipping land by 2050, making the Panama Canal nearly obsolete. Following Amundesen's route today (from Anchorage, Alaska, to Resolute Bay, Canaada) aboard an icebreaker with outfitter Adventure Life is more aking to a pleasure cruise. Highlights include passage through the roaring Beaufort Sea and the Victoria Straight, where Amundsen was stranded for two winters. In addition to watching whales, seals, and polar bears, travelers get a look at icebergs that, for now at least, are the size of several city blocks.

Trip of the Year 2007

Outside Magazine

Outside 2007 Trip of the Year: The Worlds 30 Greatest Trips. Ever.

Published: March 1, 2007
By: Meg Lukens Noonan

Two Years Running! This is the second year in a row an Adventure Life trip has made Outside Magazine's coveted "Trip of the Year." In 2006 our Argentina Northwest Trek made the list - 2007 honors our Hiking Galapagos trip. Explore some of the Islands' most remarkable regions, including snorkeling at Leon Dormido, Tortuga Bay, El Junco Lagoon and a hike to the rim of Sierra Negra volcano. Spend the nights on the Islands in comfortable hotels. This Galapagos tour is a great alternative to the traditional Galapagos cruise.

"Straddling the equator 600 miles off the west coast of Ecuador, these far-flung volcanic islands have been the focus of scientists and wildlife lovers since Charles Darwin first scratched his head here in 1835. Now that the Galapagos have become one of the most popular destinations on the planet -- 120,000 yearly vistors come to spy on the islands' famous giant tortoises, fur seals, and blue-footed boobies -- the Galapagos National Park Services keeps tight control on where boat passengers disembark and how long they spend at designated land and underwater visitor sites. The best way to avoid crowds?...Join Adventure Life's new nine-day hiking trip, with overnights in small inns."
USA Today Logo

USA Today

Five adventures to get your blood rushing

Published: December 8, 2006
By: Gene Sloan

Itching for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure? How about the first commerical trek up Tibet's Tsangpo river? Or rafting in little-visited Montenegro? Or biking in Spain's vineyard-dotted Rioja region? These are just a few of the new offerings from adventure travel companies for 2007. USA TODAY's Gene Sloan offers a guide to five new itineraries:...

...Patagonia: Adventure Life's End of the World trip combines three days on an expedition ship, sailing glacier-fed fjords and corssing the Strait of Magellan, with a land-based exploration of mountainous Chile and Argentina that includes a stay at an eco-tent lodge.

USA Today Logo

USA Today

Evolution of a Good Idea

Published: September 29, 2006
By: Gene Sloan

SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND, the Galapagos, Ecuador — An hour into a grueling hike through the scrubby, arid lowlands that cover much of this island, Alfredo Meneses slows his pace.

"Keep your eyes out," says the 40-year-old tour guide, sweat glistening from his brow as he scans the nearby clumps of silvery-gray, lichen-covered palo santo trees. "We've just entered the kingdom of the giant tortoise." ...

...Meneses, an Ecuador-born guide for Missoula, Mont.-based Adventure Life Journeys, launched the first land-based tour in the Galapagos nearly five years ago, a week-long multisport trip that included hiking, kayaking and horseback riding. Soon other adventure companies followed. In the past year, several also have added land-based all-kayaking trips. Now Adventure Life is premiering the first all-hiking trip, the latest twist in the growing trend...

Conde Nast Traveler Logo

Conde Nast Traveler

Green List

Published: August 31, 2006

We are thrilled to have made Conde Nast Traveler's 2006 Green List for our role as a Tour Operator practicing responsible and sustainable travel. Read more in the September 2006 issue of Conde Nast...

"Adventure Life Journeys
ALJ operates trips in Latin America and Antarctica only and sponsors (with additional donations from travelers) the Earth Family Fund, which concentrates on three projects: a shelter for teenage mothers in Peru, a community near the Inca Trail, and an Ecuadorian orphanage. In addition to working exclusively with local guides and support staff, ALJ chooses its destinations carefully, including a private reserve in Costa Rica that has started its own nonprofit foundation and invented a wastewater-purification system using water lilies. The company also prints brochures on recycled paper with soy ink -- even though it raises costs by 20 percent..."

National Geographic Adventure Logo

National Geographic Adventure

Great Summer Trips of 2006

Published: April 30, 2006

National Geographic Adventure recently highlighted our Peru Manu Biosphere tour in their "Great Summer Trips" issue. Check it out!

The 4.4-million-acre Manu Biosphere Reserve, in eastern Peru's Amazon territory, has the highest concentration of bird species on the planet. It is also home to tapirs, a dozen varieties of monkeys, and the playful giant otter -- an animal hunted nearly to extinction elsewhere but still thriving within the reserve. But Manu's most charismatic wildlife attraction is a garish little bird called the Andean cock-of-the-rock; males famously congregate for a bizarre mating ritual -- a sing off that may be the animal kingdom's closest approximation of American Idol. Outfitter Adventure Life has been leading guests to this spectacle for five years and doing it in a way that gives back to the surrounding human and animal communities. "We use local guides and transportation and family-run hotels so that our Peruvian hosts can share the benefits of tourism," says the company's founder, Brian Morgan.

Expect high altitude (13,000 feet) in the cloudforest portion of the reserve. Accommodations at Manu are comfortable and simple -- you'll have your own bed and bath, but the electricity is on for only eight hours a day.

The Washington Post Logo

The Washington Post

Lending a Hand In Playa Las Tortugas

Published: March 5, 2006
By: Cindy Loose

Hundreds of white coolers line floor-to-ceiling shelves inside a hot, dimly lighted shed. The silence is broken only by what sounds like dozens of fingernails scraping against Styrofoam.

Veterinarian Miguel Flores Peregrina listens carefully to discern which coolers are emitting the scraping sounds, identifies three and open the lids.

Inside, dozens of squirming newborn turtles, each smaller than the palm of my hand, are clawing their way to the top of the sand-filled coolers and trying to bash through the sides of the Styrofoam to freedom. Like all sea turtles, these are born with a natural burst of energy and an ancient instinct telling them to rush headlong into the sea...

...Volunteers at Mexico's Playa Las Tortugas can hold baby turles, help measure females after they've come ashore at night to lay eggs, and see new hatchings scramble in the corrals...

...Adventure Life has trips to Costa Rica's Pacuare Nature Reserve or Tortuguero National Park in spring and summer. From San Jose, Costa Rica, eight-day trips begin at $1,345 and include working with turtles, white-water rafting and visiting a rainforest...

Outside Magazine Logo

Outside Magazine

Best Trips of 2006 - The Wanderlist

Published: February 28, 2006

Every year Outside Magazine lists the top trips from around the world. This year we are happy to announce our Northwest Argentina Trek made the honored list.

Amid the deep red gorges of Argentina's rugged northwest, aboriginal adobe huts stand as reminders that this country's rich history far predates the tango. This nine-day trip covers both past and present, fromt the pre-Spanish Calchaquis relics in Quilmes to the up-and-coming wineries of Cafayate. After a stay at ta comfortable bodega lodge, you'll embark on a three-day trek through the Cachi Mountains, where you and your packhorses will hoof it 29 miles up the Belgrando River Gorge to the multicolored sandstone formations of the Pukamayu Vally.

New York Times Logo

New York Times

Hiking the Inca Trail: Procrastinators Need Not Apply

Published: February 5, 2006
By: Michelle Higgins

Travelers who want to hike the Inca Trail to the stunning ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru this summer should get a move on. To help protect the ancient trail, the Peruvian government is enforcing the limit of 500 trekkers starting the hike each day by requiring that tour operators submit the names and passport numbers of their clients to purchase necessary permits...

Adventure Life, in Missoula, Mont., offers the Cachiccata Trek, a 10-day backcountry experience that inludes four days of hiking that bypasses the traditional Inca Trail on the way to Machu Picchu ($1,625).

"What has become known as the Inca Trail is what people refer to as that four-day hike to Machu Picchu," said DarAnne Dunning, a trip coordinator for Adventure Life. "But that isn't the only Inca trail that there was. There were thousands and thousands of miles of these trails in Peru."

New York Times Logo

New York Times

The Galapagos Without a Paddle

Published: January 8, 2006
By: Hilary Howard

For those who prefer to experience the flora and fauna of the Galapagos without getting sore forearms or sand in their bedding, yacht tours are the way to go. Listed below are package tours available for 2006. All are 10-day trips, unless specified otherwise. The growing popularity of these cruises, plus temperate weather, means that high season is practically year-round. Cost-conscious travelers may want to take advantage of the two brief low seasons, May 1 to mid-June, or mid-September through October. Prices are per person. Air fare to Quito, the starting point for most packages, is not included; meals are.

USA Today Logo

USA Today

Edge of the World

Published: December 16, 2005
By: Gene Sloan

Itching for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure? Travel companies are rolling out a wave of unusual itineraries for next year. USA TODAY's Gene Sloan offers a guide to seven of the most exciting new adventure trips for 2006 (all prices per person, based on double occupancy):

Just about every major adventure travel company offers a tour of the Galapagos islands — by boat. Adventure Life's new twist? Participants stay on shore — in small hotels on three islands (a rarity, since 97% of the islands are national park).

USA Today Logo

USA Today

The trail less trampled on

Published: September 22, 2005
By: Gene Sloan

...Spurred by recent Peruvian government efforts to enforce visitation limits on the classic trail to Machu Picchu (no more than 500 people, including porters, can enter the trail per day; on high-volume days, nearly twice that many previously entered the trail) Adventure Life and other adventure companies have been adding new treks across the region. They follow lesser-used but no less spectacular Inca routes and visit little-known Inca ruins...

USA Today Logo

USA Today

Alternate Inca trail routes

Published: September 22, 2005
By: Gene Sloan

...While thousands of miles of Incan trails crisscross the mountains of Peru, most major U.S. adventure tour companies only have offered treks on the so-called "classic" Inca Trail that leads directly to the famous ruins of Machu Picchu. Now that's beginning to change. With the Peruvian government enforcing limits on visitors to the classic trail, which has been plagued by overcrowding, firms are adding more treks on "alternative" Incan trails connecting lesser-known ruins. ....The Missoula, Mont.-based company this summer launched "Cachiccata Trek: The Inca Trail Less Traveled," a 10-day trip that includes three days of trekking on the Cachiccata Trail, a route that passes the ruins of Chokekillka. The trip includes a stop at the ruins of Ollantaytambo and a train trip to Machu Picchu....

New York Times Logo

New York Times

Tours from Antarctica to Argentina and Shorter Cruises of Hawaii

Published: September 18, 2005
By: Marjorie Connelly

...Based in Missoula, Mont., Adventure Life Journeys, (800) 344-6118 or www.adventure -life.com, organizes trips ranging from 10 days to 23 days; the longer trips include visits to the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island. A 10-night voyage aboard the 110-passenger Akademik Ioffe visits the South Shetland Islands and the waterways of the Antarctic Peninsula, focusing on areas with the best possibilities of viewing wildlife. Including an optional overnight camping excursion, fares start at $5,390 a person...

San Francisco Chronicle Logo

San Francisco Chronicle

Adventure Life Offers Exclusive Trip: Study Leatherback Turtles in Costa Rica

Published: April 21, 2005

The Costa Rica Pacuare Nature Reserve recently began accepting visitors, and the US-headquartered Adventure Life is booking guests into the lodge. Founded 13 years ago to protect and study leatherback turtles and green turtles, the reserve accepts only six guests at a time, who work side-by-side with reserve's biologists tagging and measuring adult turtles and finding and moving nests to protect eggs from poachers...

Bradt Travel Guides


Amazon Highlights: Peru, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador (1st ed.) US-based Adventure Life provides quality small group tour to the Ecuadorian, Peruvian and Bolivian Amazon, and further afield. On tours, group size is kept to a minimum and the company aims to have a positive impact on local culture and the environment. Ultimate Adventures: A Rough Guide to Adventure Travel (1st ed.) Feature our Amazon Adventure sea kayaking 8-day trip Guides and Gear: US-based Adventure Life Journeys offers several different custom and small-group expedition into the headwaters of the Amazon on a year-round basis includes programmes that offer involvement with the Huaorani. Traveler's Tool Kit: Mexico and Central America (1st ed.) Dozens of U.S. and Canadian tour companies lead trips to Costa Rica, with new ones popping up every month or two. I traveled with Adventure Life and highly recommend the company. Its excellent guides go out of their way to make sure group members are happy. This operator tends to use smaller, family-run hotels and small restaurants off the main drag. Many responsible small-group North American operators leads trips to Guatemala. For example, Adventure Life runs well-regarded 6- to 12-day trips. Some very reputable North American operators leads trip to Panama, including Adventure Life. Environmentally Responsible Tour Operators The following are some tour operators and other companies that provides services in Mexico and Central America and have signed on to a code of conduct that commits them to follow guidelines of responsible ecotourism travel: Adventure Life Journeys...

Moon Handbooks


Adventure Life International is a five-year-old company based in Missoula, Montana, that is a good bet for budget-minded trekkers. Its nine-day Machu Picchu Pilgrimage includes Cusco, Machu Picchu, and a well-run Inca trail trek for $1,495. It also offers affordable trips to the fabulous Tambopata Research Center. It uses three-star, family-run hostels and local guides, and gives independent travelers flexibility on where they eat. Maximum group size is 12, though it often sends groups as small as two people. It has recently set up a fund (www.earthfamilyfund.org) to give back to the countries it visits.

Frommer's


But a new entry is from the field of adventure travel. Adventure Life, which specializes also in travel to South and Central America, has gotten into the act with its own registry (you can see a sample at www.adventure-life.com/gift/trondle). Note the button at the top of the page for "Give a Gift" and the note about how much has yet to be raised, $5,680 "trip balance due" when I looked. Adventure Life goes in for really rugged and exciting trips of the Indiana Jones variety. Check them out at www.adventure-life.com. The phone for this Montana-based outfit is 800/344-6118.

The ROUGH GUIDE to Bolivia


Adventure Life. 800/344-6118, www.adventure-life.com. Small, personal organization with a community focus. Trips include an eleven-day tour of Sucre, Potosi, and the Salar de Uyuni, and seven days in the Amazon staying at the Albergue Ecologico Chalalan.

Fodor's South America (6th Edition)


Adventure Life is mentioned 5 times in this edition as a recommended tour operator!! Here are a couple snippets... Adventure Life leads a kayaking journey along the Shiripuno River, paddling three to six hours per day; you also hike and meet Huaorani people (Ecuador section). Adventure Life focuses on Potosi, Uyuni, and villages near Sucre, and spends two nights at a working hacienda (Bolivia section).

The Bradt Travel Guide: The Amazon (2nd ed.)


Recommended tour operator for the Amazon: Adventure Life Journeys 712 W Spruce St., Suite A, Missoula, MT 59802; tel: 800 344 6118; fax: 406 541 2676; email: info@adventure-life.com; web: www.adventure-life.com. Lodge-based and camping/kayaking week long small-group tours in lowland forest of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

Hunter Publishing


Adventure Guide to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands (1st ed.) Recommended tour operator for the Galapagos Islands: Adventure Life, an American company, offers 10-day and seven-day all-inclusive Galapagos tours, as well as trips to the Andes and the Amazon rainforest. Contact them at 800-344-6118 or info@adventure-life.com. Their website, www.adventure-life.com, provides complete information.

The New Key to Costa Rica (16th ed.)


Listed as recommended tour operator for US-based nature tour companies.

10 dream holidays to give you an adrenaline rush – extreme skiing, a safari on foot, abseiling down the world’s highest waterfall

Published: September 6, 2020
By: Jamie Carter

Ski to the South Pole! Before you consider skiing the last 60 nautical miles to the southernmost place on Earth, you should know that Adventure Life’s “Ski Last Degree” package with Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions starts at an eye-watering US$65,790.

For that, you get a return flight to Union Glacier – Antarctica’s only “resort” – another flight to the South Pole, and 11 days camping, skiing and support on the high polar plateau.
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